TK-4510

Tube stripes are only $6.00 shipped. They are a snap to apply and you do them all at once not individually. You did say that you put them on one at a time, right? "I put these all on by hand and spent a long time on each one smoothing the bubbles out and letting them adhere"

never seen one come out of the box. Looks cool man. nice.

Hey Shelley, Smitty is right...wait at least a week....then..... What I suggest you do is wet sand the helmet down with 800 grit wet or dry sand paper. Then once you have smoothed all the fuzzies off and the helmet is nice and smooth I would take a lint free cloth that is totally new and clean and soak it with rubbing alcohol. Put on some latex gloves or wash your hands thoroughly. Then wipe the helmet down really well and get all traces of any finger oil or dust cleaned off. Let the helmet dry for an hour or so till its completely dry. Get a tack cloth from Walmart auto parts paint area or a paint supply store. Use the cloth "lightly" on the helmet. This will get all traces of dust off the helmet. Spray the helmet with rustoleum primer and once its completely dry, wet sand again with 2000 grit. Put on some latex gloves or wash your hands thoroughly. Then wipe the helmet down really well and get all traces of any finger oil or dust cleaned off. Let the helmet dry for an hour or so till its completely dry. Get a tack cloth from Walmart auto parts paint area or a paint supply store. Use the cloth "lightly" on the helmet. This will get all traces of dust off the helmet. The Rustoleum paint is a pain in the butt to use. If it wasn't for the extreme shine that can be achieved I wouldn't even use it. If you do use the Rustoleum paint then I would shake the can before use for at least a minute straight. The humidity cannot be above 60 percent and the heat no more than 70 degree's. The first coat I lay down thin and just try to cover the entire helmet with a nice even "thin" coat, holding the can about 6-8 inches away. Then I wait 5 minutes..... Shake the can again for about 30 seconds and spray a nice even coat about 6-8 inches away from the helmet. Make even overlapping strokes top to bottom and left to right as needed. Be very careful not to lay too much paint down or the gas from the can will get caught under the paint and cause air bubbles. Or you may cause a run... Once you have a nice even coat, wait 5 more minutes. The last coat do exactly like the 2nd coat. There is a VERY fine line between a nice even medium coat and a run. Too little paint and it will get the fuzzies (also known as overspray mist), too much and you get runs, traps, crackles, etc... Experiment on another surface and see how far you can go without runs and a nice glossy coat to too far and crapville USA. I usually paint my helmets outside using about a 5 foot pole I have driven in the ground. After the helmet has been painted I take another long pole and pick up the helmet from underneath and transport it to the garage. I have a dust free place in the garage that nobody gets near and a hole to stick the pole into. The helmet will sit in that spot for at least 3 days. The paint needs that long to cure because of the 3 coats of thick paint. They never turn out perfect. Some have runs. Some have misted areas. Sometimes the paint crackles due to too much being laid down at once. I have developed a pretty good feel for how far I can take the Rustoleum. If its bad enough you can always lightly wet sand the effected area with 2000 grit wet or dry and buff it out with Novus and then car wax. If you want something more forgiving and less glossy any decent white paint will do pretty good too. If you want perfection then you will need to get a motorcycle shop or auto paint store to shoot it. I have looked into the automotive grade paints and have contemplated using them because they cure faster and usually require a clear coating over the base coat that will leave the helmet glossy. OH yeah. I never use the same can more than once even if there is paint left over. The nozzles always mess up the "next" helmet. Between coats I turn the can upside down and spray off the excess paint to clear the nozzle (away from anything important). I do it for about 5 seconds... I hope I didnt ramble on too long. I hope this has helped you some. If I can be of any more assistance let me know. Good Luck!! Mike

Because the TE2 helmets are Styrene they are more fragile than ABS or injected plastics like the MRCE. The armor is tough enough, but still fragile compared to thicker ABS options. Of course ABS yeilds much less detail as a trade off unless you go with a thinner ABS which is perceived as being weaker too. Good Luck

Pretty cool armor

HOLY CRAP THAT IS BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFF FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!! Awesome assembly Awesome armor!! Awesome decals (I had to) That is one of the nicest jobs done to a TM and great photo's too!!

http://www.fastcycleparts.com/showproduct....ProductID=14137

The TE helmets are a quite a bit bigger than the AP. Recasts of the TE (AP) are of course going to be smaller as the resin used can shrink up to 10 percent. I have seen many different makers helmets and the largest in my opinion would be either the fiberglass SFS helmet or the TE/TE2. They dont look bad on the tall guys. TK-1536 is like 6 something and he looks OK. Of course if you are big as in wider, then the whole get up can look weird sometimes. lol

Kevin makes a decently accurate helmet that is larger and I believe version 3.0 just came out a while back.

Aaron is that your FISD logo?? Dont want to derail just think it would look cool on a shirt...

Boys! Calm down.... My website sells button decals that fit the AP perfectly for hardly nothing. AND they also match my helmet decal colors too. Just click the link/banner below

I now use a glove a buddy gifted me that cannot be cut through easily. He said he got it from the safety dept at his work. I only wear it on the hand without the blade so I dont cut into it like I have before

I sell decals for the more accurate sets ( TE, TE2, AP, etc.) for the AB plates. They match the helmets gray and blue too... Mike

BILLY!!!!! YOU ARE THE MAN!!

Score and snap. Thats THE way. Its fast and painless. ABS is very strong and will just pop at the score line. Take your time and make your scores deliberate and clean. Dont cut too hard. Score lightly and do the same line a few times. Make all your scores so that they have no sharp angles (no corners) if you can help it. Thats always worked for me. I tried a dremel saw and scissors but they are overkill and actually make the work harder I think.

Sounded like it was agonizing and fun!

HAHA!!!! freegin' SWEET!!!! Your boy was a hit wasnt he?!!

Update: The foam I put outside 2 weeks ago has turned yellowish, but its apparent that it will not look like the deep mustard yellow we need.

Good point! Build away!!!

Definitely not AP's. Do not advertise them as being AP's. Thats bad Karma Plus AP doesnt have Hovi's. Hmm those are also eh....nevermind.

I have some blue foam. I will put it outside and see how long it takes. I will put it outside now.

Sweet!! Why cant I get into the archives!!!!?

The blue foam here in the US turns yellow very quickly in the sun.

Aerosol is the only way to go